INDEPENDENT

The declaration of Olusegun Mimiko as the winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in Ondo State by the Garba Naburuma-led election petition tribunal may stand as a vindication of the judiciary as the last bastion of hope for the powerless. The verdict has also set the stage for a lap of honour in Mimiko's camp, whose route to victory was strewn with thorns and thistles. The former minister had alleged harassment and intimidation from his opponents but like the proverbial Iroko tree, he persevered and remained resolute in his quest to seek justice.

The five-man election petition tribunal after sitting for about one and half hour ruled on Friday, July 25, 2008, that Mimiko scored 198, 261 against Olusegun Agagu's 128, 669, making him the authentic winner of the governorship election of 2007 in Ondo State. It went further to nullify all votes cast in Agagu's home council of Ilaje local government and declared that Mimiko won two thirds of the total votes from the 18 local councils in the state. It also ordered the Independent National Election Tribunal (INEC)to issue Mimiko with certificate of return as the winner of the April 14, 2007 governorship election in the state even as it directed that Mimiko be sworn in immediately.

Mimiko had filed a 145,000-page petition in 2007, asking the election petition tribunal to declare him the winner. He thus commenced the tortuous path to victory that saw exchanges of legal fire works culminating in the judgment of Friday, July 25.

A Lagos lawyer and human rights activist, Bamidele Aturu welcomes the tribunal's judgement as a good step in the right direction towards strengthening Nigeria's democracy. "I think it is a very good decision; it is heart warming. It has given some hope that all is not lost. All Nigerians welcome it. I celebrate the decision," Aturu declared.

Mimiko, a medical doctor-turned politician was said to have altered the political equation of Ondo State, when he indicated interest to contest the 2007 governorship election, thus, sending jitters down the spine of the opposition. Fondly called Iroko by his teeming followers, Mimiko inspired a new wave of political alignment and re-alignments in Ondo State, when he joined the opposition Labour Party (LP), after loosing out in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)governorship ticket to the incumbent governor, Agagu, in a fiercely contested primary. In LP, he readily became the flag bearer and contested the April 14, 2007 governorship election for the State.

Mimiko was born on October 3, 1954 in Ondo State. He commenced his academic pursuits at St. Joseph Roman Catholic Mission primary School, Aponmu and Akure. He later went to St.Joseph College, Ondo in 1970 before concluding his secondary education at Gboluji Grammar School, Ile -Oluji.

He thereafter proceeded to the then University of Ife, now Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), where he studied Medicine. He observed the mandatory one year National Youth Service Corp (NYSC)at the Nigerian Naval College (NNS), Onura, Onne in Port Harcourt from 1981 to 1982.

He began his career as a medical officer in Ondo State Health Management Board (OSHMB)in 1982 and later founded Mona Mediclinic Limited (MML)and became its medical director.

Mimiko was later appointed Commissioner for Health in Ondo State in 1992 before moving up to become the Minister of Housing and Urban Development in 2005, from where he indicated interest to contest the governorship election in Ondo State in 2007.

He is a member of Nigerian Medical Association (NMA)and Association of General Medical Practitioners of Nigeria (AGMPN).

Triumph Of Olusegun Mimiko

By Emeka Umejei, Reporter, Lagos